Design Battle

Sorry that I’ve been MIA recently; I’ve been trying my hand at designing, and it isn’t going very well!

Previously, I said that I’d bought a full set of Cornerstone Crochet Lite hooks, and the more I use them, the more I like them, though I have yet to have to use the light up feature (hubby, on the other hand, discovered them the other day and had a lovely time playing with the LED lights. Boys. Sigh). Well, I wanted to find a case for them to protect them. They’re a bit more breakable than my usual aluminum hooks, but they have those big ergonomic handles, which has presented me with a problem. Searching for cases to fit hooks with ergonomic handles has shown me that either they don’t exist, unless they come with the set to begin with, or I haven’t figured out the correct search terms. Either way, no dice.

That failure led me down another path, which was to make my own case. There are tons of patterns available for that. Unfortunately, the ones that I saw that fit the ergonomic handles didn’t have pockets, which is my preference. They always had bands, which I don’t really like. I like the security of an actual pocket.

I did make one case, from a pattern by Priscilla Hewitt of priscillascrochet.net. I love the pattern, but it’s only suitable for the normal aluminum handled hooks. When I tried mashing one of the Crochet Lite hooks into the pocket, the pocket flipped the switch on the hook because it was entirely too tight. So now I’m trying to figure out a way to make a case where the pockets are wide enough to comfortably fit the hooks without turning them on every time I put them away. Never having designed anything before, this is turning out to be harder than I thought it would be, and gives me more respect for those who design a pattern and make it look easy. It is so not.

I’ve downloaded the patterns of several cases I really liked that I will probably make for my regular hooks just because they’re so pretty, not because there’s any

The almost-finished case open, filled with aluminum hooks

actual need for them. Cases are like purses to me: just because you have one purse that holds everything you want in it doesn’t mean that you don’t occasionally want to change it out for another that is equally functional but has a different look (I have a serious weakness for purses. Specifically, big shoulder bags made of nice, buttery soft leather…mmmmmmm…)!

It’s mainly figuring out how the stitching will work best, so I’m still fighting with it. Most of the patterns involved only double and single crochet, but that won’t work for my lovely hooks and their chunky handles. Treble crochet, at least with the yarn I’m working with, is far too open and has too much drape when what I need is stiffness. I’ll keep working on it. If anyone has any ideas – please, none that involve sewing! – I’d be happy to hear them!